30 Days | |
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Created by | Morgan Spurlock |
Starring | Morgan Spurlock |
Narrated by | Morgan Spurlock |
Opening theme | "The Passenger", Iggy Pop |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 18 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Sebastian Doggart |
Running time | 42–48 minutes [1] |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | FX |
Release | June 15, 2005 – July 8, 2008 |
30 Days is an American reality television series created and hosted by Morgan Spurlock for FX. In each episode, Spurlock, or some other person or group of people, spend 30 days immersing themselves in a particular lifestyle with which they are unfamiliar (e.g. working for minimum wage, being in prison, a Christian living as a Muslim, etc.), while discussing related social issues. As in Spurlock's film, Super Size Me , there are a number of rules unique to each situation which must be followed during each such experiment. At least one episode each season has featured Spurlock as the person spending the month in the particular lifestyle.
Season one premiered on June 15, 2005, and its respective DVD set was released July 11, 2006. The second season premiered on July 26, 2006. Season 3 of 30 Days premiered on June 3, 2008. [2] Later that same year, FX said that it would not be renewing the series for a fourth season, effectively canceling the show. [3] The show was later picked up for re-air by Destination America, though no new episodes were ordered.
In the United Kingdom, the program is broadcast on More4 and Channel 4. In Australia, the program is broadcast on Network Ten and Lifestyle Channel. It currently[ when? ] airs in Canada on Independent Film Channel and Canal Vie. It also airs on FX in Latin America. In Norway it airs on TV 2. In Sweden it airs on TV4 and Kanal 9.
Season | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | |
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1 | 6 | June 15, 2005 | July 20, 2005 | |
2 | 6 | July 26, 2006 | August 30, 2006 | |
3 | 6 | June 3, 2008 | July 8, 2008 |
# | Topic | Original airdate |
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101 | "Minimum Wage" | June 15, 2005 |
30 Days premiered on June 15, 2005, with the pilot episode "Minimum Wage," in which Morgan Spurlock and his then fiancée, Alex Jamieson, lived for 30 days in the Bottoms neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, trying to get by on minimum wage ($5.15 an hour). They had no access to prior cash, credit cards or health insurance and lived in an apartment whose rent was less than their combined wages for one week. Rules:
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102 | "Anti-Aging" | June 22, 2005 |
The second episode featured 34-year-old Scott Bridges on his quest to reverse the aging process using testosterone and growth hormone supplements. However, Bridges quits after 22 days on the program after experiencing abnormal liver functions and extreme decrease in sperm count (75M alive vs. 1M dead). Rules:
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103 | "Muslims and America" | June 29, 2005 |
The third episode featured Dave Stacy, a devout Christian with seemingly offensive views of the Muslim people, who had to spend 30 days with a Muslim family. Rules: | ||
104 | "Straight Man in a Gay World" | July 6, 2005 |
The fourth episode featured a conservative Christian man (under the idea that American way of life is under attack) who spends 30 days living with a homosexual man in his home in the Castro, a majority-gay neighborhood in San Francisco, California.
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105 | "Off the Grid" | July 13, 2005 |
Two nightclub employees with a dependence on the power grid have to live without electricity, phone service, or Internet; they have to spend 30 days at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Rutledge, Missouri. Rules:
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106 | "Binge Drinking Mom" | July 20, 2005 |
In a Freaky Friday style of intervention of a daughter's future possibility of drinking, a mother begins to binge drink for 30 days as her daughter watches what a person would go through (e.g., vomiting, hangovers, and drunkenness). As the mother teaches the daughter, the mother ends up learning about the pressure teens experience to drink. Rules:
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# | Topic | Original airdate |
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201 | "Immigration" | July 26, 2006 |
The second season begins with a reaction to recent immigration protests by placing a border-patrolling Minuteman – who, incidentally, had legally immigrated to the United States from Cuba as a child – in a home of illegal immigrants. Rules:
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202 | "Outsourcing" | August 2, 2006 |
The second episode of season 2 involves an unemployed computer programmer, Christopher Jobin, who had his job outsourced to India. He travels to India to work and find out why so many American jobs are being outsourced there. Rules:
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203 | "Religious Perception (DVD Title: Atheist/Christian)" | August 9, 2006 |
A firm atheist must live among a family of devout Christians. Rules:
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204 | "New Age" | August 16, 2006 |
A high-strung, stressed out salesman (Tom) is introduced to a New Age "life guide" who compels him to participate in a number of New Age ceremonies, treatments, discussions, etc., much to the chagrin of his live-in girlfriend. Rules:
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205 | "Abortion (DVD Title: Pro-Choice/Pro-Life)" | August 23, 2006 |
Twenty-nine-year-old Jennifer from Atlanta is a counselor at a reproductive health clinic who is strongly pro-choice, who had an abortion when she was younger. For 30 days she'll live in His Nesting Place, a residential Christian crisis pregnancy center in Long Beach, California run by former Operation Rescue activists. Rules:
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206 | "Jail" | August 30, 2006 |
Series creator Morgan Spurlock serves a mock thirty day sentence in the Henrico County Jail in Richmond, Virginia. However Spurlock is released after 25 days because in Virginia the average felon serves 85% of their sentence. Rules:
At the end of the episode, it is revealed that two of the inmates Spurlock befriended (and were released during the 30 days) were re-incarcerated a few months later. |
# | Topic | Original airdate |
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301 | "Working in a Coal Mine" | June 3, 2008 |
Morgan Spurlock goes to West Virginia to work in a coal mine. He explores the detrimental effect burning coal has on the environment. Spurlock talks about the practice of surface mining, which is destroying the landscape in his native West Virginia. Rules:
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302 | "30 Days in a Wheelchair" | June 10, 2008 |
Cornerback for the Super Bowl winning Denver Broncos, Ray Crockett, spends 30 days in a wheelchair to simulate living with a spinal cord injury. He restructures his life to resemble that of a paraplegic. He has full movement of his arms. In the process he learns about disabled sports, the stigma associated with disabled people and the difficulties that they face. Rules:
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303 | "Animal Rights" | June 17, 2008 |
An avid hunter lives in Los Angeles with a campaign coordinator for PETA, participating in PETA initiatives and working at an animal rescue center. Rules:
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304 | "Same Sex Parenting" | June 24, 2008 |
A mother (who was adopted herself) opposed to gays and lesbians adopting has to live with two gay men and their adopted children. Rules:
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305 | "Gun Nation" | July 1, 2008 |
A gun-control supporter, who had a friend murdered by a shooting, moves in with a father and son who are strong gun advocates. Rules:
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306 | "Life on an Indian Reservation" | July 8, 2008 |
Morgan Spurlock spends 30 days on the Navajo Nation to study Native American life. Rules:
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DVD Name | Release Date | # of eps | Additional Information |
---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | July 11, 2006 | 6 | Commentary on selected episodes, and diary cam on all episodes. |
Season 2 | July 1, 2008 | 6 | |
Complete Boxset | May 18, 2010 | 18 |
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